Victory?
by 100gamesvictor
Summary: Atticus has just won his Games. He's in 12 and is about to start his victory tour. He finds out a secret that Chelsea kept from him. Makes no sense if you haven't read 91st Hunger Games first.
1. Deceit

I wake up and feel that Chelsea is lying next to me. I feel the warmth of her body on my skin. I sigh. It's been almost three months since that Games.

Today, we must go on the Victory Tour. We will tour the districts. In each district, there will be a ceremony in our honor, a dinner our honor that only the wealthy can attend. I wouldn't mind all of the screaming fans, but the fact that they'll be screaming as if we're killers-which we are- isn't exactly going to be fun. I wish we could go back in time to the day we came back to District Twelve.

_When we left my mother's house, instead of going over to my new house, we went to the Justice building. We ran up the large stairway, into the building, and ran over to the front desk._

"_Can we get the marriage papers that we need to sign," Chelsea asked eagerly. The woman at the counter smiled at us and handed us the papers._

"_Just sign on the dotted lines, put your initial where it says to, and you'll need to get a parent to sign it as well."_

"_Why," I asked, annoyed._

"_You're not eighteen. You need a parent's permission to get married."_

"_Can we take these home?" Chelsea asked. The receptionist nodded. We looked at the papers. It said that one of each of our parents would need to sign it._

"_They'll never sign this," Chelsea moaned._

"_We could trick them. They'll never have to know that they signed it." She nodded and we ran back to Victors' Village. When we got there, we ran into Chelsea's parents' house. Her father was sitting at the table. He said "Why don't you two join me."_

_We sit across from him. I handed him a bunch of papers. "You need to sign these."_

_He nodded "I remember my parents needing to sign these." He signed the papers. When he handed them back to us, we took them and ran out the door to my mother's house._

_My mother was sitting on her couch. "Hey sweetie," she said. I handed her the papers and said "You need to sign these. They're the finalizing papers that say that you acknowledge that I'll be living next door."_

_She nodded and signed the papers. She handed them back to me and we ran out of the door. I heard he say "Hey where are you going?"_

_We ran to the Justice Building. We flew up the stairs and ran to the receptionist. We handed the papers over and she said "Congratulations, you are now officially married."_

_I turned and kissed Chelsea. _

_We walked home._

That was three months ago, this is now. This is the time when the president forced us to get divorced. He said something about how he might need us to be single for a little while longer.

We have no idea what that meant, but when our parents found out, they were very distressed. They said that it might be something similar to what Finnick Odair had to go through when he was younger. All I know is that it can't be good that the president told us to get divorced.

I get out of bed and walk downstairs. To my surprise, Haymich is sitting in the living room. He's holding a letter in his hand.

I can tell that he's sober. The day that we got back, Chelsea threw out his alcohol supply. Then, she tracked down Ripper (the person who sells alcohol) and started to give her a month's worth of victor winnings for the rest of our lives. She will keep this up for as long as Ripper doesn't sell alcohol to anyone.

"This is from Finnick about your situation. We'll talk about it outside." He motions me to walk with him. We walk out of the house. We keep walking until we're out of Victors' Village. Then, he stops and turns to me. "Atticus, you and Chelsea are going to be sold to the highest bidders whenever you two are in the Capitol from now on. That's why Snow made you get divorced. It doesn't look good for him to be auctioning off married people. It could ruin his reputation."  
>"I won't do it. I won't let him force me or Chelsea to have sex with anyone we don't want to so he can make money."<p>

"You don't get it, Atticus! He'll kill someone you love if you don't do what he wants."

"My family?" I ask nervously. He nods and says "You're lucky. Your mother and Chelsea are both victors. He won't kill them. He likes to watch the victors suffer. He'll never kill them. However, he will kill you father, your sister, your brother, and any friends that you have that aren't victors. You need to be careful."

I was breathing heavily at this point. How could I let President Snow use me and Chelsea like this? "What can I do?"

"Nothing. The only chance you have is if no one wants you two but that will never happen. You two are two of the most popular victors that there are."

I can feel all of my hopes of being with Chelsea collapse. I thought that maybe President Snow was just trying to stop the people of Panem from thinking that he is condoning underage marriage. I never thought that he would try to sell us in the Capitol for a profit.

All my hopes of having children with Chelsea are gone. I can tell that there will never be a happy ending for us. I wish that I could kill Snow. If he were dead, maybe we could be together. I only know that while he lives, I can't be with Chelsea.

Maybe… I'll propose to Chelsea on television. Wait, no, that won't work. She already said that I proposed during her interviews for the Games. How does President Snow plan to change that one?

At that moment, I see Chelsea's face and I am filled with anger. Not at the Capitol or President Snow. I'm infuriated with Chelsea because she knew about this and she didn't tell me.


	2. Annulment

I've never been angry at her like his before. I suddenly know that her parents didn't say that it might have something to do with what Finnick had to go through, she knew it herself. She's been lying to me for 3 months.

I break into a run. I keep running until I'm in the forest. I run to the lake and sit down in the house there. I know that running away on the day of the Victory Tour isn't the brightest idea, but what else could I do? I can't talk to Chelsea. I have no idea what else she lied about. One thing that I do know is that I never want to see her again. That isn't exactly plausible because even if I do move out, I'll still live next door to her. But I can avoid her from now on. I hear a twig snap under someone's feet. Someone curses quietly and knows that they've been caught. I don't have to wonder who it is. It'll be Chelsea here to tell me that she was sorry. I don't give a crap if she's sorry though. I've had enough of her lies.

I climb out the window of the house and run for the woods silently. I run back to the fence and go straight into the house. I go up to the bedroom and pack some of my clothes. I leave the house and go next door to the house that belongs to me. I go inside before I realize that with the Victory Tour coming up, I can't try to move as well. I decide that I'm going to go back to her house. After the Victory Tour is over, I will move into my own house. If anyone asks why, I'll tell them that there isn't enough room and that I need some room to spread out without Chelsea around.

I walk back into the house and see Chelsea sitting on the couch. "For a second I thought you were leaving me, Atticus."

"I am, but there's no time before the Victory Tour. Give me the ring."

"No thanks, I like it," she sounds almost amused.

"You would have volunteered if you weren't chosen."

"What made you think that? Was it the fact that I'm an expert with weapons, or was it that I got pissed off when you used up almost all my training time?"

"Actually, it was today, when I realized that you lied to me. It would have been easy for you to pretend to be shocked." She glares at me.

"What did you think I was going to do? I wasn't going to go up to my parents and say 'hey, I love the thought of the Games and I want to kill everyone in there myself.' Sorry, I have _some_ sense of self-preservation." I bite my lip. Even I was wrong about everything else, I know that I'll never change her opinion on the Hunger Games.

There is a knock on the door. I hear the babbling outside and know that Cinna and Portia arrived with the prep teams.

"We'll finish this later," she hissed.

"There's nothing to finish." I walk over to answer the door.

After of two hours of the jabbering of my prep team, Portia finally comes in. She's holding a bag that has my outfit in it for the departure.

She takes it out and see that it's a tux with smoke designs on it. Any movement looks like billows of smoke. I put it on and we walk down to the living room where everyone else is waiting. "About time!" Chelsea exclaims. I glare at her. We walk outside. There is a car waiting to take us to the train station. I get in and wait for us to go. Chelsea is next to me and I can tell that she's worried. If I decide to tell the Capitol that she is really a self-centered bitch, she might lose popularity that is important to her.

The ride to the train station is short. However, it feels like hours because everyone refuses to talk. Effie tries continuously to start a conversation, but the others don't feel like talking. Apparently, Chelsea told them what happened. Apparently, she wants everyone to know about it. Fine by me. I couldn't care less. When we get to the train station, we go on without a word to each other. There are cameras there, but we don't pay any attention to them. We act as if they don't exist.

I know that my anger at Chelsea is a little extreme, but I know that she can lie better than she can tell the truth. I think that what happened between us was just fate telling me that she isn't the one. I think that I'm going to tell the Capitol what's going on between us. That way, I can break up with her publicly, and ruin her reputation.

I walk to my room and lye on my bed. What if something happens to us because of what I want to say? If I stay with her, there's a chance that the Capitol will force us to get married. I can't marry that thing. It's ironic how a couple hours ago, I liked her, but now I can't even consider her human. Then again, I really never considered the careers human. I know that some of them are nice, but the stereotypical is just like Chelsea. I'm sure that some are nice. However, I'm not sure if they could me my friends. I don't know. I'll meet all of them on the Victory Tour. Then, I'll get to know them all.

I hear a knock on my door and it opens. I see my mother and Victoria walk into the room. Victoria comes to sit by the foot of my bed while my mother sits in the middle.

"What happened?" my mother asks.

"I left Chelsea because she's been lying. You know what happened with Snow?" they both nod so I continue "She said that her parents said that it was probably because Snow wanted to put us through what Finnick went through. She wouldn't tell me what that was. Today I find out, and I realize that her parents didn't tell her, she already knew. I also realized that she loves the Hunger Games." Victoria stares at me in shock. "She said that she knows what her parents went through but she doesn't agree with them. She says the Hunger Games are fun and that she would have volunteered anyway." My mother gasps.

"Are you sure, Atticus?" she asks.

"Yes, so I am going to publicly ruin her. I will tell everyone what I just told you and I know that she will hate it. She wants to be popular if I can take that away-"

"Atticus," Victoria says "Are you sure that you want to do that? If you do, you could get both of you in serious trouble."

My mother turns into mentor mode and says "I suggest that you lie and say that you realized that you don't have that much in common. I mean that you could say that when you're in the arena and in the Capitol beforehand, you just want to find love before you die. That way, you aren't saying that you didn't feel that way at the time; you just were rushing things that shouldn't be rushed." I think about it before I nod. My mother kisses me on the forehead and says "Try to get some sleep." Victoria says goodnight and they both walk out of the room. I lay on the bed until sleep engulfs me.

I know that I have slept too long because the light coming in from the window tells me that it's almost 10-o-clock. I get up and find that there is a note on the table. It says:

_There is no work to be done today. All you need to do is change into the outfit on the hook by the door. Then, go to breakfast and get something to eat before we arrive._

_-Portia._

Great, I get the morning off. I walk over to the hook and take the outfit off. It's an orange shirt with leaf designs on it. It looks like an autumn day. The pants are just a pair of jeans.

When the train stops, we get out and are immediately brought over to the stage. We say our scripted speech that the Capitol told us to say. We don't have anything to say about their tributes because we weren't in an alliance with them. In fact, I killed one of their tributes. I try not to think about that. After, the ceremony, we are taken to the Justice Building where the feast will be held. The only people that are allowed to go are the victors, their families, and the most important people of the district.

At the feast, I meet some nice people. They are all victors or children of victors. There is Seeder, an old woman who won the 33rd Hunger Games almost sixty years ago. There was also Chaff, a drunken man who won the 45th Hunger Games. Finally, there was Demeter, a girl that won the 88th Hunger Games. They seem nice enough, but they are also bitter because their tributes died while I survived. I don't talk much with the other victors. There are the children of the victors that I like more. Seeder has a young daughter named Camilla. She seems a lot like her mother. There's also a son of Rowan, the victor of the 61st Hunger Games, that seems nice.

Other than meeting everyone, the evening was uneventful. So, we head straight for the train after the feast.

The other districts were a lot like that. There was Diaspro, Clay, and Lola from 10, Marie, Denis, Cara, and Louise from 9. However, 8 was one of the worst districts. We said our required speeches. Then, we each gave our own statements about Wade and Carmen. Chelsea went up and said something about how they were great allies and even greater friends. At that point, I wanted to slap her. How could she come to the district full of their grieving family members and say that they were her friends? I got up and said "Wade and Carmen were two of the best people I knew. Carmen was someone that I would trust with my life. Sometimes I wish that she and Wade had won. They were really great. You know, the reason that I chose them as allies was because she and Carter from six helped us out before the Games. As a matter of fact, the careers were attacking me and Chelsea when they stepped in to help. I immediately knew that Carmen would be a good ally because I could trust her. She was one of those people that didn't even care for herself. She actually told me that she didn't plan on winning. She wanted as many children to come home as possible. That meant either me and Chelsea, or Celine and Carter. I respected her for that. I don't think that there is anyone else in the world that is willing to die for other people that they don't even know to survive. Wade on the other hand wasn't a very good friend of mine. I took him on as an ally because Carmen said that he would be loyal. Actually, I kept thinking that it was my fault that he died. I felt that if I had told him to wait where he was, he wouldn't have been killed. Maybe he and Carmen would be standing here right now if I had told him to wait. I can't imagine what it's like to lose someone you love. I have my whole family. But I want you all to know that if I could have brought them both home, I would have." I look at the families. Carmen's mother looks as if she is somewhere in between hollowness and grief. Her father just looks angry. She has no siblings. Then there is Wade's Mother. She is grief-stricken.

At that point, we are ushered off the stage to the banquet. While I'm there, I see some other victors. It turns out that Woof died about a week after the Games ended. Apparently, he wasn't important enough for the Capitol to report as dead. It makes me sick how they treat us. The other victors are nice enough. There is Cecelia of course. Then there is Morgana, victor of the 42nd Hunger Games Kayla, victor of the 56th Hunger Games, Pike, victor of the 79th Hunger Games, and Luis, victor of the 82nd Hunger Games. We eat together before we have to leave.

District 7 is boring. I go through the routines like I did with the other districts. Then, at the feast, people pretty much isolate me. There is Johanna, who won the 69th Hunger Games. She isn't exactly nice but she doesn't isolate me. None else really talks to me.

District 6 was most definitely the hardest of them all. I was close friends with both Carter and Celine. I say pretty much the same speech that I did in 8. There isn't really anything else to say. The real problems are at the feast. I know that the feast is televised but I can't help myself from slapping Chelsea when she says that she was sorry to have to watch Celine die to her parents. Here's what happened.

_I heard Chelsea talking to Celine's family. I heard her say "I'm really going to miss her. She was a good friend." I can't help myself. I turn around and I slap her._

"_What'd you do that for?" she exclaims._

"_You lying son of a bitch. You didn't care about Celine! You actually told me that you were about to kill her yourself if I didn't break off the alliance when I did. You said the same about Carter and Carmen! You didn't care about anyone in our alliance except yourself. If it wasn't expected of us both to come home, you would have killed me too! Face it, you are a witch!"_

"_You ass hole," she said to me icily._

"_Maybe, but at least I'm an honorable ass hole. You can't go five minutes without saying a lie."_

"_Did you ever think that I was trying to keep us both alive?"_

"_Actually, I did. Then you told me that you were hoping that I would die in the arena."_

_With that, she turns and runs away. _

The rest of the evening goes by without anything special happening. The only thing that I notice it that I talk to Titus, victor of the 71st Hunger Games who reverted to cannibalism in the arena and won even though the gamemakers tried to kill him, seemed nice enough to me. He didn't seem like a psychopath that everyone describes him as.

Then, we go to 5. I meet the victors there. There are only 2 of them. Their names are Corin, victor of the 66th Hunger Games, and Midas, victor of the 85th Huger Games.

District 4 seems okay. There is Finnick Odair, victor of the 65th Hunger Games, who I say thank you to under my breath. He nods in response. There is also the slightly insane Annie Cresta, victor of the 70th Hunger Games who went insane after watching her district partner get decapitated. She only won because the dam in the arena broke and flooded the arena. Everyone else died and she was the best swimmer. I learn that she isn't insane. It's more like she's slightly unstable. However, no matter which way you spin it, she is really nice. I remember Haymich telling me that there was once a victor in this district named Mags, she won the 12th Hunger Games. She was said to be one of the nicest victors. Sadly, she died about a decade ago.

District 3 is okay. There is a woman there named Wiress, who won the 57th Hunger Games, that seemed nice enough, but she has a tendency to trail off in the middle of her sentences.

District 2, however, was the most surprising of all. The victors there are names Brutus, victor of the 51st Hunger Games, Lyme, victor of the 49th Hunger Games, Enobaria, victor of the 62nd Hunger Games, and Vikus, victor of the 73rd Hunger Games, all seemed really nice. I was surprised that I could like someone that volunteered for the Games, but they really don't seem that bad. It just goes to show you 'you can't judge a book by its cover.'

In District 1, I mostly talk to the victors Cashmere, victor of the 67th Hunger Games, and her brother Gloss, victor of the 68th Hunger Games. I realize that the victory tour isn't so bad. I get to meet a bunch of fellow victors that I will get to meet at the Games. Now, the only thing left to do is go through the Capitol and I'll be done.


	3. Recuperation

We roll into the Capitol. There is a light coming in from the windows. I can't get over how bright the Capitol is. The colors are unnatural. Blues too bright. Greens too deep. It's all wrong. We are ushered onto the stage as soon as we arrive. Sitting there is Caesar Flickerman we walk over to the seat.

"Hello there, you two," he says brightly. We both murmer hello as the cameraman tells us that we'll be on in five seconds. When he tells us that we're on, Caesar announces "Hello Panem! I'm here with the victors of our most recent Hunger Games, Chelsea Mellark and Atticus Avalor!" He turns to us and smiles. He says "So, Atticus, what happened in District Six? Why did you slap her?"

I hold my breath. I knew that this was going to come up, but I didn't think that it would happen right at the beginning. I say "Well Caesar, she recently told me that she was just using Celine, Carter, and Carmen. They were my friends. The thought of her going over to their families and lying to them was terrible. I couldn't stand it. I know that they were going to have to die if we wanted to win, but I don't think I could have killed them. I think that I would have killed Chelsea if she tried." Chelsea stared at me. The hate in her eyes was apparent.

"How about you Chelsea? What was your take on the whole event?"

"Well, I was telling Atticus the truth when I told him about what I felt about our alliance." There are gasps in the crowd. "Let me explain, at the time, I wanted to bring Atticus home. That meant using people. I'm sure I would have liked them under different circumstances, but I needed to get us both home."  
>"Alright, I think that we all need to know, are you two still together?"<p>

"No," I answer before Chelsea can say anything.

"Why not?"

"We didn't even talk outside the arena. The arena changes the way you look at things." I can see the others giving me warning looks. "I mean that you think that you're going to die. So, you rush things that normally wouldn't be rushed. We rushed our relationship before we even got to know each other. When we got out of the arena, we learned that we really didn't have that much in common." The faces of the victors relax. I can tell that they were worried that I was going to tell the truth. I'm slightly insulted. I may be mean sometimes, but I'm not stupid. The rest of the interview goes by without anything interesting happening.

We then must go to the party to celebrate. There will be food and a bunch of Capitol people. All of the people will be rich Capitol citizens. We will be herded around. We will have to get to see everyone. While there, we meet all of the Capitol people. The people in the Capitol are weird. I already knew this from my Games and the years of watching the Games, but seeing it up close is scary. Someone has diamonds implanted in their skin. Others have cat whiskers. It's horrific. We go through the motions of talking to everyone. Then, around midnight, a woman from the Capitol comes over to us and says "President Snow would like to see the two of you."

We walk through the halls until we reach a room. Inside, Snow is sitting with a man and a woman. "Hello, there," he says. I can smell the rose from over here and it makes me gag. "Well, I think that the two of you would like to meet your first friends."  
>"You mean rapists," I say angrily. I may not care that much about Chelsea, but it isn't fair to either of us to be put through this.<p>

"If you want to make it sound terrible, then yes." Snow said.

"I'm not doing it," I say and walk back out the door. I run back to the party and run right to my mother. I stand at her side for the rest of the night. I don't think that I've ever spent the entire time anywhere with my mother, ever. She gives me questioning looks, but doesn't say anything.

By the time we need to leave, I am exhausted. We climb on the train and go to the living room. About a minute before we leave, Chelsea boards the train. "I hope you're happy, Atticus. Your dad will pay for what you've done." At this, my head and my mother's head snap up. "What do you mean," we say in unison.

"I mean, that because Atticus refused to sleep with the woman from the Capitol, his father will pay for it. Snow said so himself."

We walk to the funeral. My father died in a fire. He was at the apothecary and it somehow caught on fire. He was the only casualty, which is depressing and reassuring. It means that he isn't going to kill anyone to get to me. Only those I'm close to. The funeral feels like it takes hours. Then, we take my father's body to the cemetery, where he will be laid to rest. He is put in the ground, and everyone is required to leave. I walk to the town square. I keep wandering around the town doing nothing. Eventually, I head to the Hob. Years ago, it was District 12's black market. Now however, it is a legal marketing place for people of the Seam and sometimes of the town. Victors also come in here constantly.

I walk over to Greasy Sae's stand and ask for some soup. She hands me a bowl of what she calls beef stew. I remember Katniss telling me of when Greasy Sae said that once meat is in stew, it becomes beef. I smile at the thought. I begin to eat. It actually doesn't taste that bad. I was having a nice time before I noticed that Titus walked in. Naturally, he would come here for a drink. Apparently, when Haymich stopped drinking, Titus started. He is almost always sober and he doesn't have a liquor store in his house, but he does drink.

I know that I must leave. I don't want to talk to anyone that lives in Victors' Village. I leave the Hob and walk into town. I head over to the sweetshop. Inside, I find more candy than it had the last time I was in here. I'm not surprised. Due to having the most recent victors, District 12 has been getting loads of gifts from the Capitol. I see Head Peacekeeper Thread at the back of the store. He is likely the most hated peacekeeper in all of 12. Before him, there was almost never any whippings. Now, public whippings are a common thing. It is less common now that people have adjusted to his rules, but it is still bad. I actually found the only part of the fence surrounding 12 that doesn't have electricity running through it. However, now, even that has electricity in it. How he figured out about the weakness, I don't know. But I do know that he changed 12 in many ways.

When he sees me walk in, he heads for the door. Just as he crosses my path, he says "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Get lost," I reply harshly. I soften my expression and say "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm still upset about my father." He nods and leaves. When he has left, a girl about 13 comes into the room from behind the counter. She is a merchant kid. She has the usual blonde hair and blue eyes. However, her hair is dirty blonde. She has a light tan. Or it may be natural, I don't know. However, I do know that her hair comes down to the middle of her back in a wave. However, there are two ringlets, one on each side of her face, that comes down to her shoulder. Despite my bad mood, I can't think of anything except how pretty she is.

"Is he gone?" she asks nervously. I can tell that she, like most people, is terrified of our head peacekeeper. Her expression relaxes and I smile. It isn't a happy smile. It's more of an awkward, half-smile. "I'm Atticus."

"I know. However, I don't think that you know me. I'm Terra. Terra Firma." I laugh. She looks at me and says "Is my name funny?" I smile at her and shake my head.

"No, it's just that before Panem existed, terra firma was the scientific name for earth." When I say this, she smiles.

"So you should call me daughter earth."

"I like Terra better. It's pretty."

"Thanks Atticus." I stare at her quizzically.

"For cheering me up. I always freak out when Thread walks in. I don't even know what he needs candy for. He doesn't look like the type to love chocolate, and I doubt he's handing it out to the Seam kids." At this, my little smile turns into a full grin. I go over to the isle with her trailing behind me and I buy some chocolate. Then, I walk back to the register and give her the money for the chocolate. "You gave me like fifty dollars extra."

"Keep it. Buy yourself a cookie. Or with that kind of money, you could probably buy a whole cake. Take it as a thank you."

"Why?"

"For cheering me up after my father's funeral."

I walk out without saying another word. However, I do turn around to look at her before I leave the store. I then decide to go back to Victors' Village and finish moving into my own place.

It's been two months since my father's funeral. I just finished making my house feel like a place that I can call my home. I also visit the sweetshop every day. Every day, I see Terra. I feel pathetic to admit it but going to the sweetshop is my favorite part of the day. There are times, like when her evil father is there, that I don't exactly like it. But on a whole, my life has been great. That greatness is about to be ruined because the 92nd Hunger Games will begin in 2 weeks. I'm not upset because I will need to mentor 2 kids. I'm upset because I have a feeling that Terra will be chosen. Now that she's turned 14, her name will be entered 3 times. However, those odds will increase because she knows me. I have a feeling that President Snow will send her into the Hunger Games to torcher me. He told Chelsea to tell me that he will kill everyone that I care about. The only good thing about that is that I will always have my mother. Haymich said that he won't kill his victors. He likes to watch them suffer. That means that my mother is safe because she's a victor. Terra on the other hand, may get chosen because, aside from my mother and Lyra, she would probably be the person that I care about the most. I feel bad that she knows me. I just put her in more danger. However, despite how I know that I'm putting her in danger, I can't bear to stay away from her. I always go the sweetshop no matter how many times I tell myself that I won't. I have been successful at not asking her out. No matter how many times I would want her to go out with me; I can't risk her life like that. Haymich actually said that within 2 weeks of him being crowned victor, his brother, mother, and girlfriend were all killed. I won't let that happen to Terra.

Today, I'm walking over to the sweetshop. I see her outside. When she sees me, she runs over to me and says "Can we go for a walk?" I nod. _How can I let this happen?_ I think to myself. I worked so hard to keep her safe. Now, I can put her in danger by just walking with her. We walk to the meadow. Apparently, no one feels the need to go outside today.

She turns to me. "Listen Atticus, I need to know, do you like me?"

There is desperation in her eyes. All I want to do is hug her. However, if I say yes, then I'm putting her in even more danger. I just stand there. I don't know why but suddenly, she's kissing me. This isn't like the kisses with Chelsea. They were okay but nothing memorable. Kissing Terra is amazing. In the back of my head, I'm thinking _Hello, you're 2 years older than her. This isn't right!_ However, I ignore that part of my mind and keep kissing her. I feel happier than I have in months. It's amazing when I'm with Terra. I wrap my arms around her waist. When we break apart, I keep my arms around her waist and say "Does that answer your question?"

She nods. I can see her blush.

"We can't be together. I want to, but we can't," I say.

Confusion crosses her face and she says "Why not?"

I bite my lip. I shouldn't tell her the truth. But I want her to know that I do care about her. I know that I need her in my life, and I want her to know that. I open my mouth and say "President Snow killed my father because I wouldn't sleep with women from the Capitol. He can't hurt my mother because she's a victor. That means that the only people that he can hurt are Lyra and you. I don't want you to get hurt."

She thinks for a moment. Then she says "Shouldn't that be my choice. I want to be with you, Atticus. I don't care how much danger it puts me in." Suddenly, I kiss her. It's just a light kiss, but it tells her that she can choose. "I choose you. No matter what it costs me, remember that." I nod and we walk back to town, hand in hand.

The day of the reaping is upon us. The moment to discover if I will or will not lose Terra. I walk to the sweetshop. Her father gives me a glare that tells me that he isn't happy that I'm dating his daughter. Terra comes down the stairs from the apartment upstairs. She's wearing a strapless gold dress that comes down to her knees. She is also wearing gold high heels. Around her neck is the necklace I gave her. It's a diamond about the size of a finger nail. I didn't tell her, but it's a real diamond. She thinks that it's glass or something. "Hey Atticus!"

"Hello, Miss. Firma. We will have to hurry if we want to get there on time," I say in an accent from District 8. She giggles. She must remember that Carmen talked that way. **(Note: it is actually a British accent.)** I grab her arm and we walk to the square. She goes to sign in while I walk over to the other victors. I see Chelsea looking at me. When I reach them, Chelsea says "So, how's your girlfriend?" My mother hears her and turns around.

She looks at me and says "What girlfriend? You know that you're too young to have a girlfriend."

"What about Chelsea," I say defensively.

"Look how well that turned out." My mother says. Chelsea looks offended. Since we got back from the victory tour, we've made up. She's now like my best friend. We still argue, but it's more like siblings than enemies.

The mayor begins. I don't pay attention to any of his speech except for when he added three names to the list of victors. They were mine, my mother's, and Chelsea's. Then, Effie steps up and says "Happy Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor! Ladies' first!" She walks over to the girls reaping ball and picks a name. She walks back to the podium. She reads the names "Lyra Avalor!"

I stare. There is no way she just called Lyra. How could this have happened! She had 2 slips in thousands! Lyra walks up to the stage. I wish that I could volunteer for her. Effie asks if there are any volunteers. I'm surprised when someone yells "I volunteer!"

I feel relief for a moment before I realize that Terra volunteered. She runs up to take Lyra's spot. Lyra walks back to the 13-year-olds with a confused expression on her face. The same face is worn by nearly everyone in the crowd. As far as anyone knows, Lyra has never even talked to Terra.

"Alright, then. Let's choose our boy tribute!" She grabs a boy's name and runs back to the podium. "Carson Mellark." Shock crosses my face. Carson is Peeta and Katniss' nephew. He walks up to the stage. Sheer determination is on his face. No one volunteers for him. He and Terra shake hands before being herded off to the Justice Building.

"Why did she volunteer?" I hear my mother ask Titus.

"Who knows," Victoria answers her. Chelsea walks over to me and says "I'm so sorry, Atticus. I know that I was going to, but you should probably mentor her. Out of all of us, you know her best." I nod. "Wait. Chelsea, you could not tell anyone about this yet? I really don't want anyone bugging me until the train." I look up and see that she's nodding. I'm suddenly glad that I know her. We may not be in love but I do love her. I guess that you can't go through the Games with someone and not love them. She's a really good friend.

We board the train and all of us go to the dining room. We sit down. The others are all talking, everyone except Chelsea. She's just picking at her food. I feel bad for her. I'm upset about losing Terra, but she's upset about losing her cousin. We hear Terra and Carson board the train and Effie directs them to the dining room. Chelsea, Katniss, and Peeta all run to hug Carson. I get up and run over to Terra. I grab her and pull her into a tight embrace.

"You'll be okay," I let go of her. She nods and we walk back to the table. The Mellarks all sit down. I sit with Chelsea on one side and Terra on the other. "Listen, we're going to switch it up this year. I'll mentor Carson and Atticus will mentor Terra." This brings on a round of objections from the others. Carson and Terra stay quiet. "Neither of you should mentor," Laurent says.

"Why not?" we say in unison.

"Because you have a connection with your tributes that myself, Anne, Titus, Haymich, and Victoria do not have. It'll distract you."

"Be quiet," Chelsea says harshly.

I turn to Terra and say "Why don't you and Carson go get some rest. Go into the living room and talk. Try to get to know each other."

She nods and gets up. She walks over to the exit, followed by Carson. When we know that they're out of hearing range, our real conversation begins.

"Who are we protecting?" Titus and Victoria say at the same time. I suddenly realize that they both won the 84th Hunger Games. They think alike.

"I'm protecting Terra. I'm sorry, but I can't lose her. However, if she does die, I promise you that I will help Carson." The look on Katniss and Peeta's faces was obvious. They were hurt.

"Who is she?" my mother asks.

"It doesn't matter. You are terrible mentors. When someone you know is in the Games, you protect them at all costs. The problem is that you pretty much kill the other. I'm mentoring her because I care about her, and because she doesn't deserve to die." There is shock on Katniss and Peeta's faces. I don't think that they have ever had someone tell them off before. I get up and walk out of the room. I head to the living room to talk to Terra. In the living room, I see Carson. he says "She went to her room. Said something about not feeling up to talking. I guess I'd feel the same if I weren't prepared for the Games."

"Are all Mellarks trained for the Games?"

"Yeah. Chelsea was the only one that ever wanted to volunteer though." I nod my head and walk to Terra's room. I don't bother knocking. I just walk in and see her on the bed crying. I sit next to her on the bed. When she feels me sit down, she sits up and faces me. Even after she was crying, she is still the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. That's saying something coming from the person that has visited all of the districts and the Capitol.

"Listen, you're going to survive. Do everything I say. Trust me. I know what I'm doing." She nods. I can tell that she doesn't believe that. "Atticus, why don't you tell me what to do?"

"Well, when we get to the Capitol, do whatever the prep team and the stylists want you to do. Beauty gets sponsors and you are the most beautiful thing in the world."

"I'm insulted to be thought of as a thing."

"There isn't a person, place or object in existence more beautiful than you."

"If that's true, then why aren't you kissing me?" I smile and kiss her. It feels almost normal to be kissing her like this. We lean back on the bed and keep kissing. We don't stop kissing until we fall asleep.


	4. Confidence

We wake up to Effie screaming at us. She says that we must get up and get ready to get into the Capitol. We stand up and get out of bed. I head to my room and change into clean clothes. I then walk to the dining room where everyone but Terra is sitting down at the table. When she walks in, we eat breakfast before getting ready to leave the train. "Remember what I told you last night," I tell Terra before we leave the train. She nods and we get ready to exit. The doors open and the deafening crowds hurt my ears. I have to use all of my willpower to stop myself from putting my hands over my ears. We get over to the car and drive to the remake center. I have a terrible case of déjà vu. This feels just like last year. The only difference is that I'm not going into the arena, the girl that I love is, I'm not about to be on a chariot, and I have no reason to worry about my own life. When we get to the Remake Center, Terra and Carson are taken upstairs to get redone. I head over to talk to the other victors.

"Hi Atticus," says Cecelia. I walk over and hug her.

"I'm so sorry about Woof." The other victors are staring at us. My guess is that no one has said anything about Woof to them. Cecelia says "I'm just sorry that no one announced it."

"It's sick the way they think about us. Apparently, Woof just wasn't popular enough to be remembered." She nods and we go back to talk to the others. She introduces me to her fellow District 8 mentor Weaver, victor of the 37th Hunger Games. I talk to Wiress. She still can't finish a sentence. She's really nice, but I don't think that I want to deal with trying to interoperate her. Then there's Finnick. He is with Annie. They got married about 2 months ago. It turns out that Contessa, the female morphling from 6 who won the 31st Hunger Games, and Cornelius, the male morphling from 6 who won the 40th Hunger Games, died recently as well. I guess that the only person that I know is Cecelia and, of course, the others from 12. I don't count the other victors from the victory tour. I still talk to Enobaria, Brutus, Lyme, and Vikus. I decide that they are actually really nice. They aren't at all what I usually think of careers as. We talk about our lives in the districts. District 2 seems to have a great life. They get a lot of money from the Capitol. Their tributes this year have trained with Brutus. "Don't you think that that's unfair?" I ask him. He shrugs and says "We don't really like the Games, but we want to bring our tributes home. If that means being hated, so be it. I know what you're thinking 'how could they be so cruel.' The thing is that tributes need to win or else it's life in the quarries. Also, our tributes don't have to like to kill; they just do what they do to survive. I personally think that you people in District Twelve should think about training tributes. With so many victors, you could bring a lot of tributes home." I'm shocked, but I totally understand what he's saying. His tributes do whatever they can to have a decent life for themselves. Why there aren't people training tributes in every district, I don't know. You don't have to like to kill; you just have to know how to fight. They don't even need to volunteer; they just need to know how to fight.

Myself, Chelsea, and District 2 all head to our seats. I drag Chelsea along to get to know them. We sit down and prepare for the tributes to ride out. I notice that District 2 is dressed in outfits of unpolished gems. The other tributes go by. Then, our tributes are up. I'm amazed, but Cinna has made Terra even more beautiful than before. I didn't even think that that was possible. She is in a dress that makes her look like a canary. Naturally, they choose the bird that we bring down into the mines with us. Then there is Carson. I'd like to say that he looked good in the outfit, but he didn't. It made him look like a girl. I turn and frown at Chelsea. She sees it and nods her head. I guess that Portia didn't think that one through. They were okay, but I think that the crowd was mostly cheering for Terra, not Carson. We get up and walk back with District 2.

I turn to Brutus and Enobaria. "Maybe our tributes could team up. I mean that Carson was training in case he ever went into the Games and Terra is the most loyal person that I know. They would make great allies."

"We'll talk to our tributes and get back to you, but I think that that's a good idea," Enobaria says. We then separate into our different districts to get ready to go to the Training Center. We meet up with the others from 12 and get in the car to go. "Who were you talking to," my mother asks.

"We were with District Two the whole time. I like them. They have some great ideas."  
>This gets Victoria's interest "Like what?"<p>

"Like training kids to be ready if they have to compete in the Games," Chelsea chimes in.

"Become careers, you mean," Haymich says.

"No, we mean prepare the kids for the Games. They don't have to volunteer. They just need to be ready. With so many victors, if we all taught them some of our knowledge about the Games, we could bring home a lot of tributes," I say.

"Plus, they won't have to go into the mines if they win," Laurent says.

The others think about it. Titus says "We'll set this up when we get home." We all nod and get out of the car when it stops. We go over to the elevator and press 12. We head right up to the 12th floor. When we get there, we all sit at the dining room table waiting for Terra and Carson to arrive. My mother passes the time by asking me about Terra.

"When did you meet her?"

"I met her the day of dad's funeral."

"You were dating girls at your father's funeral?" she exclaims.

"No. I was wandering around Twelve after the funeral. I was at the Hob until Titus came in. I didn't want to talk to him, so I went into town. I went to the sweetshop. Her parents own it. I met Thread there. When he left, we started to talk. I found out that I really liked her. I went back every day since then. We started dating about a week ago." My mother exhaled in relief. She must be glad that her only son didn't try to get a girl at his father's funeral. She might have died of shame. I'm just glad that I have my mom. No matter who the Capitol takes away from me, they won't take her. Then, Terra and Carson walk in.

"I was thinking that you two should try to join up with District Two." Terra looks stunned while Carson shakes his head. "I will not join up with the careers. They are dangerous. We can't trust them."

Chelsea steps in and says "Just get to know them. You don't have to join them. Just stay with them until you think that you have to leave. Then you can kill them if you want to." Carson reluctantly nods. Terra nods enthusiastically.

"Why are you so enthusiastic?" I ask her.

"Because I trust you. If you think that it's a good idea, then so do I." I smile at her.

"Alright, let's get down to training. If you two are going to pair up with the careers, you need to get to know them before you enter the arena. Talk to them during training. Show them your worth," Titus says. They nod.

"Remember, you need to give the careers something or they won't let you join them. You've got to be good at something," Katniss warns.

"I was wondering why do you want us to join the careers?" Carson asked.

"Atticus and Chelsea think that you can trust them," replies Laurent. Carson scoffs. I can't blame him. After years of being told that the careers are dangerous, to think that they can be trusted is hard to believe. Terra gets up and heads off to her room. Carson follows soon after. Then, I get up and head to Terra's room. I see her in her bed and go to join her. I sit down, but before I can say anything, she is kissing me. After a while, I give up on speaking.

Last night was amazing. I get out of bed and put on my pants and walk to my room. I know that it would be bad for anyone to know that I was sleeping with a tribute. I would be in so much trouble. I put on new clothes and walk to breakfast. I sit down and take a sip of hot chocolate. Then, Laurent comes in.

"Hello Atticus."

"Hi Laurent."

"What do you think of the tributes? Do they have a chance at winning?"

"Maybe. I want Terra to win. I don't care what happens as long as I get her back." He nods. Then, Chelsea and Carson walk in, followed by Terra. I stare at her. She looks beautiful. When she sits down next to me, she slips me a note.

_Where were you? I woke up and you were gone._

I reply,

_I had to get dressed and I didn't want anything to happen to you in the arena. What I told you about Snow might get you in trouble._

Then, Victoria, Titus, Haymich, Katniss, Peeta, and my mother walk in. We all sit down for breakfast. Then, at a quarter to 10:00, Effie comes in and tells Terra and Carson that they need to go. I walk her to the elevator and kiss her before she leaves. Then, I go back to the dining room. I tell them that I'm going to visit other mentors. Haymich tells me that other mentors will be at the barbeque on the roof all day. They set it up so that the victors could get to know each other. I head up to the roof and see that only Morgana and Diaspro are there. I walk over to them and say "Hello." Morgana nods at me, but Diaspro turns in my direction and says "Hey! How are you? I haven't seen you since the victory tour."

"I've been good. You know. Except for my father being killed." After I say the words, I wish that I could take them back. Diaspro's mouth hangs open and Morgana gasps.

"What happened," Morgana asks.

"Do you know what happened to some victors like Finnick?" they nod so I continue "Well, Snow tried to force me to do that, but I wouldn't, so he killed my father."

Diaspro throws her arms around me and says "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. That's terrible." She lets go of me and I see that Brutus and Enobaria have joined us. I say goodbye to Diaspro and Morgana and walk over to Brutus and Enobaria.

"Hello," I say.

"Hi Atticus," Brutus says.

"Hello, Atticus," says Enobaria.

"What do your tributes think about the alliance?"

"They're open to it, but they want to see what your tributes can do first. They did say that if one of them can do something useful, they will take them both. However, I would suggest that they both have something useful that they can do." I nod we walk over to the edge and stare at the city. It's amazing from up here.

"What do you think that the other careers will do to them?"

"District Two is usually head of the Career pack. They will except them if our tributes say to." Enobaria says. I know that they're right. District 2 is almost always in charge of the careers. If they say to, I'm sure that the others will follow their example. As the other victors begin to arrive, I notice that even as victors, you always have a pack of sorts. There are some tributes that stick to their district and a few others. There are others that talk to everyone. Then, there are the ones that for the big groups. I notice that it's getting late, so I head back down to floor 12.

"Come on!" Terra says. The individual training has just happened and they are showing the scores. The careers, as usual, get from 8 to 10. The others are either bad of mediocre. Finally, District 12 is up. Carson gets an 8. That's pretty good. Then, Terra comes up with a 7. I hug her and say "You did really well!" The others congratulate them as well. Then, mother says "It's time for bed. You'll need some rest. I walk her to her room. Like every night since we got to the Capitol, we sleep together. However, she passes out in about an hour. I can't blame her. She must have done something special to get a 7. I let her sleep the entire night.

We wake up in the morning. I tell her "Time for interview coaching." She smiles at me and says "Does that include any kissing?"

"Maybe, but you'll have to earn a kiss." We get out of bed and put clothes on. Then, we walk to the dining room for breakfast before the interview training. We eat and then I take Terra up to the roof for some practice. We're the only ones up there. We start to talk about the interview. We find her angle in all of 5 minutes. She will be herself. That's the person that made me fall in love with her. And believe me, that isn't an easy thing to do. So, we spend most of the time talking about us. We talk about life back home. I can't wait for these stupid Games to be over. However, by dinner, we're both tired enough to fall asleep. We head downstairs and have dinner. Then, we go to sleep like we do every night.

The interviews are almost over, there is only Terra and Carson left. I see Caesar Flickerman in his usual suit and with white skin, but orange hair, lips, and eyelids, call Terra. She walks up.

"So Terra, what do think will happen in the Games?"  
>"Well Caesar, I hope I win, but everybody hopes that. Mostly, I hope that I don't die in the bloodbath at the cornucopia."<p>

"Why did you volunteer?"

"She's the sister of someone that I really care about. I couldn't let her die."

"Alright, well, who is it that you care about?"

"Atticus Avalor. I'm kind of in love with him." There are gasps from the crowd. The camera is on me. I know that Caesar wants to ask some more questions, but then, the bell signaling the end of her interview. Then, Carson steps up. He talks with Caesar easily.

However, I don't hear any of his interview because I'm staring at Terra. I've never known anyone more amazing. Then, the bell signaling the end of all of the interviews sounds. The tributes all stand up and walk off of the stage.

I see Terra and I kiss her. We head into her room without dinner.


	5. Alliance

Like always, Terra is amazing. However, I can't spend the entire night with her because I need to head to the Command Center. So, I decide to spend as much time as I have left with her. So, when we get up to the 12th floor, we go straight into her room. We're in there for about 2 hours. Then, my mother knocks on the door to tell me that we have to go. I get ready and walk out of the room. I kiss Terra and tell her "Remember, to earn yourself a place in the career pack, you must fight in the cornucopia. I think that you'll do great. However, remember that you'll need to kill the careers eventually. So, I would kill them in their sleep."

She nods and says "I love you."

"It's good to know that I'm not the only one. Bye." I kiss her again and run to the other victors. We get on the elevator and head to the roof. It takes us all of 2 seconds. When we get up there, a hovercraft is waiting for us. We walk onto it and prepare to leave. No one else joins us which leads me to believe that they will be taking other victors at different times. I'm really worried about the games. Apparently, it shows on my face because my mother, Chelsea, and Victoria all try to comfort me.

"The worst part is that I should be the one comforting you, Chelsea."

"You got that right," Peeta says from the opposite side of the room. Chelsea glares at him.

"We both have people that we care about in the arena. You're allowed to be upset about that."

"Thanks, Chels." Then, the hovercraft begins to land. When we exit, we head straight to the floor for District 12. This building has pretty much the same layout as the Training Center. The only difference is that there isn't a training area. When we get up to our floor, there is a Capitol attendant in there with a folder.

"What is that?" I ask.

Laurent answers "It's the extensive arena files. It has the layout of the arena, all of the traps, and the items found at the cornucopia. It's probably one of our most useful tools."

"What's more useful?" Chelsea asks.

"Our intuition. And our knowledge of our tributes." Laurent says. We both nod. We take the folder and look into it. Apparently, the arena will have a forest area, an ocean, a desert, and plains. There are quite a few traps in every area. The cornucopia has a lot of supplies. I'd say that if she knows when to end the alliance, she could actually win.

We spend the night going over all of the ways these Games could turn out. Eventually we fall asleep. Katniss, Peeta, Titus, mother, and Victoria head to their rooms. Haymich never left his room to talk to us. Laurent, Chelsea, and I all stay up talking about the possible outcomes. By the time that we fall asleep, we have gone over 10 ways that Terra could win, 14 ways that Carson could win, 35 ways that neither of them could win, and 16 ways that they both could win. We all eventually fall asleep.

My nightmares are about my Games. However, instead of me being in the Games, Terra is. The thought of her dying terrifies me. I see Carmen kill Terra. Then, I see the bear mutt in the profile attack Terra. The entire time, I'm screaming to her all that I know about the Games. It's sad because I know that she can't hear me, but I scream anyway. I do it because logic and reason fly out the window when love gets involved. I know that I love her and that I will keep screaming until she dies or until she comes back to me.

I wake up with a screaming. There are tears running down my cheek. I can tell that her Games are about to begin. The clock says 9:57. That means that she will enter the arena in 3 minutes. I get up and go over to the command room. In this room, we can see the entire arena. Also, it shows a list of deaths and our tributes. We can send gifts from this room. I know that Victoria, mother, Peeta, and Katniss would have gone to sign sponsors. Titus, Laurent, Haymich, and Chelsea are all sitting down. Chelsea sees me and motions me toward her. We wait as the tributes are lifted into the arena. When the gong sounds. The Games begin.

_Terra_

When the gong sounds, releasing us, I run straight for the cornucopia. I see some tributes fleeing in other directions. The other careers and Carson are already at the cornucopia. I grab a whip. This is my weapon of choice. I also grab a knife. I see the boy from 9. I lash out with the whip. It traps him and I go in for the kill. I stab him in the heart before he can react. I see a movement behind me. I take the knife out the boy's back; I turn around and throw the knife at the girl from 7. She tries to pull the knife out and throw it at me, but I run over and pull it out before heading into the fight. I see the Weis, the guy from 2, stab the girl from 5. The Silver, the girl from 1, sees me and charges me with a sword. I jump out of the way. It's a good that I did because she wasn't after me, she was after the boy from 10. She slices his head off with her sword. Then, she runs over to me and says "I've got your back if you've got mine." I nod and we go back to back. The boy from 8 comes at me and I get him with my knife. He collapses and we wait for our next victim. Then, I notice that there is no one else in the area except for myself, Carson and the careers. Anklet, the boy from 1, sees me and charges me with a knife. However, Clarisse, the girl from 2, knocks him in the head with a club.

"Why'd you do that?" he exclaims.

"Why were you about to charge our ally?" she asks.

"We don't need her as an ally. We'll do fine on our own."

"Brutus and Enobaria know the Games better than Cashmere and Gloss, or even Finnick and Constance. They said that we would need them as allies. I trust them."

The Algae, the girl from 4 says "Let's get out of here. We don't want it to start to smell." We all nod in assent. We exit the area. Once we get into the forest, the cannons go off. There are 7. That means that there are 17 of us left. We head off hunting the other tributes.


	6. Selfless

_Atticus_

I let out a sigh of relief. She made it through the bloodbath. That's the first step to victory. However, she still has a long way to go. I can already tell that these Games will last a lot longer than my own. Also, one of the tributes from 12 won't survive.

"They made it," I hear Chelsea sigh.

I nod. "I really hope nothing happens to her," I mutter under my breath.

Peeta scoffs. "What?" I ask.

"Don't even act like you care! You're screwing a tribute, just like last year! We all know that you spend every night with her. Just like with Chelsea! You probably don't even care about her."

Chelsea gasps. "Dad!"

My mother rises from her seat. "How dare you say that about my son!"

I put my hand up. "Peeta, you're a hypocrite. You said that you were in love with Katniss in your Games. Back then it was a lie. Why can't she tell the truth? Are you and Katniss the only ones exempt from that rule?"

"Well…I…" he stuttered. Katniss was staring at the screen. She acted as if she hadn't heard anything.

"He's right, Peeta," Haymich says. Peeta gets up and walks out without another word. I decide to go up to the platform to watch from above.

On the platform, I see Cecelia and Weaver. I walk over to them and say "Hello you two. How's the girl from your district?" Cecelia looks up and smiles. "Good. I wish that the boy survived as well. I guess that history repeats itself." Weaver nods in agreement.

"I can't believe how complex this arena is. Last year it was so basic." Cecelia nods. The door behind us opens and Seeder walks out.

"Hello you three," she says kindly. Suddenly, she hugs me.

"My granddaughter is in the arena as well. She however, didn't think about teaming up with the careers. That was a good move on your part. The careers think of them as an asset. Then, they will have one less enemy to watch out for. Also, they provide protection." I nod. That was my thinking as well. All I can hope for is that Terra wins the Games. However, the odds aren't in her favor.

_Terra_

We go into the forest in search of tributes. Algae seems nice. She and Silver both seem to like me. There's also Clarisse. She isn't too bad, but I won't have any trouble killing her when this is all over.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzes past my head and lodges in a tree right in front of me. I turn in time to see Weis running in the direction of where the arrow came from. The others soon follow. Two more arrows are coming at us. I dodge them easily and run in the direction they came from with Silver at my side. We keep running until we see the girl from 10, armed with arrows. She aims and fires one arrow at me.

I dodge again. I lash out with my whip and knock the bow out of her hands. She tries for the knife on her belt, but Anklet gets to her first and stabs her. A canon goes off, but she's still breathing. We all turn around to see Stern, the boy from 4, on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Another canon goes off and I know that the girl from 10 is dead. Anklet pulls out the knife.

"Why'd you dodge that knife? Now we lost Stern because of you!" he yells at me. I scoff.

"I'd rather be alive than dead! Sorry about your friend, but I'm not sorry that I dodged that knife." I notice that the sun is dipping below the horizon. "It's getting late. Let's keep searching." The others nod in agreement. Anklet looks pissed that I told him off. I grab the girl from 10's bow and arrows before we head off.

The forest is quiet at night. After about five hours, we see a light in the distance. I run for it, but Weis beats me there. Come into an area with two people sitting around a campfire. I identify them as the two from eleven. Algae and Clarisse kill the two before Carson and I can even move. Two more canons go off to signal their deaths.

He had nothing good on that that we should take. However, we decide to use the campsite that they so kindly made us instead of going back to our own. It's me and Clarisse on watch.

"Terra, what's life like in twelve? What do you think of the Games?" I'm stunned. I never knew that people from two cared.

"Well, I'm lucky. I'm one of the wealthier families. However, most people are coal miners. That means that they usually starve to death from lack of food. Also, the word tribute is pretty much synonymous with the word corpse. So, being reaped is pretty bad."

She nods. "Why'd you volunteer?"

"I started dating Atticus a week before the reaping. However, he's been the most important person in my life for months. I couldn't let him lose a sister right after he lost his father."

"You're a really good person, you know. I never would have volunteered because I wanted someone's family to survive. You deserve to win."

I smile at her. I'm flattered. I never thought that a career would say that a tribute from District Twelve would deserve to win the Games.

Suddenly, I see a knife whizz past my ear. It misses me, but hits Clarisse in the chest. Her canon doesn't fire, and I sigh of relief. I grab my whip and run in the direction the knife came from. I see the boy from seven running away.

I lash out with my whip. I hit him in the back and he falls to the ground. I run to him, with a knife in hand. He gets up and runs away limply. I run after him. I get the knife in his back. His canon goes off and I go back and check on Clarisse. The others are all awake. The commotion must have woken them up.

He stares at me. His eyes are filled with hate. "Did you do this to her?"

I glance at Clarisse's limp body. "The guy from seven snuck up on us. He threw the knife at me. I dodged it, but it hit Clarisse. I went after him, but I let him go because I thought that Clarisse needed help."

Silver looks at her. "Come on; let's look at your wound. Maybe we could patch it up."

The others crowd around Clarisse. I notice that the wound clearly punctured a lung. She looks straight at me, tears in her eyes. "You deserve to win. So…selfless…" Her canon fires and we're all quiet.

Weis has tears in his eyes. I can tell that I'm tearing up as well. Carson looks upset, but not that emotional. Silver and Algae look like her death doesn't affect them. And it probably doesn't. They lost an alliance member, not a friend. Sure, they liked her, but they weren't close.

Anklet does the most despicable thing of all. He just shrugs it off and walks away. My eyes widen and my nostrils flare. In an act of fury, I grab my knife from my belt and fling it at his back. I'm not the only one to do so. Weis throws his spear at the same time.

Weis stares at Anklet's body. "You could at least show some respect! She was your ally for god's sake!"

He doesn't say anything else because a broadsword is in his chest. Two canons fire and I know that they're dead.

"Carson, come on!"

He doesn't even think twice. He runs after me into the woods. I hear two sets of feet following after us. However, I don't pause to look. We keep running through the forest for as long as we can. Eventually, we have to stop to breathe.

While we're resting, I perk my ear up into the air. There's this strange buzzing sound that confuses me.

I look up and my eyes widen. There's a nest of what I believe to be tracker jackers directly above me.

"Carson, we've got to go."

He looks at me. "Why? No one's following us. We're safe here. Let's stay."

"There's-" I begin but he cuts me off.

"No! I'm tired of you making all of the decisions! I'm gonna stay right here and that is that!" He then does what is the stupidest thing in the world. He punches his fist into the tree. Hard.

The swarm comes swarming out. I don't stick around to watch. I turn around and run in the opposite direction. It doesn't stop some of them from stinging me.

One stings me on my right wrist. Another gets the back of my neck. The final one to get me; gets me in the forehead. I immediately start to get woozy.

The trees start spinning. They turn purple. Branches reach out and trap me in their grasps. However, I keep running.

Soon, however, the hallucinations take over. I manage to get to a pile of rocks by the river. I drearily hide myself in between them and curl up in a ball.


	7. Gravity

Atticus

It's been five days and Terra still hasn't woken up. The others are optimistic that she's just unconscious because she was stung by a lot of tracker jackers.

However, my sadness is nothing compared to Chelsea, Peeta, and Katniss'. Carson collapsed after two stings. He wasn't dead, but when the careers found him, he wished he was. They tortured him for two days. When his canon finally sounded, his body was all mangled. You couldn't even tell that it was him. His family hasn't been seen since.

When the careers finished with Carson, they went hunting for Terra. However, they didn't find her. They did find the girl from nine. I'm surprised that the split hasn't occurred yet. Usually, when there are so few left, the split happens. I mean, it's just the girls from 4 and 2, but they can't both win. That means that they will have to kill each other eventually.

"Atticus," Victoria mutters to me. I look up and she says "Talk to Chelsea. She isn't talking to anyone because she thinks that it's her fault that her cousin died. You've got to tell her that it's not true. You're her best friend. She might listen to you." I doubt this, but I don't say anything.

I tell her I'll try and I get up and walk to Chelsea's room.

I knock and say "Chels, you in there?"

I hear sobs in the room so I open the door. Chelsea is sitting on the bed in a bundle of blankets. Her hair is a mess and makeup is running down her face.

I sit down next to her and say "Why the long face?" She glares at me. However, she looks so ridiculous that I have trouble not laughing.

"It's my fault that Carson died. If I was a better mentor-" I cut her off.

"You're not a bad mentor. There's nothing that you could've done. How could you have known that they were going to be attacked by tracker jackers? You did everything in your power to save him. Don't blame yourself." I put my hand on her shoulder.

I stand up and walk out of the room without another word. I pray that she starts to feel better.

The others, save for Katniss and Peeta, are still in the control room. They're staring at the screen. I see the death list and can tell that there're three more people than last time. I see that it's the girls from 4 and 2. Apparently, the tributes from 3 are a little craftier than I initially gave them credit for. They saw that there was a storm coming. So, they set up a lightning rod system throughout the ocean. Then, the lightning hit the lightning rods. It traveled through the water, hit the beach and traveled over the still wet sand. Clever of them to use the metal rods that they found to their advantage. They also got the boy from six. There was a double strike. They used the lightning on the careers. Then, they pushed the boy from six into the plains where there is a mutt roaming around. They really are some of the smartest people to play these Games.

On another note, Terra woke up.


	8. Changes

Terra

Slowly the illusions start to fade. I can see the river clearly. And I know that the worst is over. I pull out the stingers and get up.

My joints are numb after being unconscious for so long. After I finish stretching, I turn my head in both directions. Instinct tells me to look for danger. When I find none, I shrug and grab my whip. It's the only thing that I have left now that I left the career pack.

My stomach grumbles. How long was I out? The way I feel must mean that it was a long time.

"Food."

Then, a silver parachute comes flying down. I look at it and see a picnic basket filled with food. There're some rolls. I only take one and leave the rest of the rolls, along with the rest of the food, in the basket.

I put the basket on my arm and decide to give the Capitol a show. I smile and merrily skip down the side of the river. However, the peace is interrupted by an arrow flying by. The arrow is shot by the girl from 8. She doesn't even load another arrow before my whip hits her in the head. I head over and grab a knife off of her. I use it to stab her in the heart. Her canon fires. It was a quick and, hopefully, painless death.

I take her arrows and arrows and head off. The forest is alive with life. There are little creatures running around that are beautiful to look at.

That's when I break down. I collapse onto the ground and burst into tears. Everyone that I've killed. Everyone that I've watched die. They all flash through my head. I clutch my head and shriek. I pray that I die so that someone who deserves it can win. I killed too many people to deserve to live.

Atticus

Seeing Terra so shaken up tears me to pieces makes my heart wrench. She doesn't deserve to be in so much pain. I want to turn away from the screen, but I can't.

Behind me, I hear Laurent ask mother "Why doesn't he leave?"

Surprisingly, it's Katniss that answers. "It's like when I was little and people brought their loved ones to my mother to get help. They would always stay and watch them go through all of the painful treatments. I always wondered 'why do they stay? Why don't they leave?' I realized when Peeta was hurt after our Games ended that it's because you can't. When you love someone and they're in pain, there's a gravity that's pulling you toward them. You can't leave, or look away."

I speak up. However, it's barely above a mutter. "Her pain is horrible. I wish that I could take it upon myself. I'm the reason she's in this mess."

My mother says "No you aren't. She volunteered."

"Because she didn't want me to lose Lyra as well. If I did what I should have done and stayed away from her, she wouldn't be in this mess."

Titus speaks up. "Send her a message. You have enough sponsor money if you combine it with Carson's. You'll need Chelsea to agree to it, but that shouldn't be a problem."

I nod and get up. I walk down the hallway to Chelsea's room. I don't even knock before I barge in.

Inside, Chelsea is sitting in the bed in the fetal position. She's shaking.

"Chels?"  
>She looks up at me. "Yeah?"<br>"This'll sound so heartless, but I need your help."

This stirs something I her. She gets up and walks over to me. "Anything."

"I need Carson's sponsor money. Terra's in really bad shape. I need to send her a message."

Her face hardens with sheer determination. "Let's get going."

She pushes past me and walks out the door. She quickly walks down the hallway to the command center.

Inside, she ignores everyone else and walks over to the sound booth. I follow her and we get the message ready.

Inside, she is sitting in the only chair. She is typing down settings and codes for the access.

After she's done, she looks at me and motions me forward with her hand.

"Say what you want to tell her into the mike. Be careful. You can't give any clues about the other tributes or their strategies. If you do it won't be allowed to get to her."

I nod and turn to the mike. "Terra, the way I see it, you have five choices. They can only happen if you get out of the arena. One, you could become a drunk. Then you'll never have to think of the Games again. Two, you could become a morphling addict. Then you'll never have to feel the pain again. Three, you could become a killing career. You won't care anymore. Four, you could stick with the past you're on ad be driven insane. Finally, you could take what happened to you and use it to make yourself better. Improve your character and help us bring tributes home. It's your choice. The Terra I know would try like hell to use this experience to better herself. The arena changes people, but you could be changed for the better. The pain never goes away, but that doesn't mean you give up. If you do, then you're not the girl I thought you were, or the girl I fell in love with." I press end and step back. Chelsea presses the send button and we walk back out to the others.

We arrive in time to see the message delivered to Terra. Her wide eyes look at it as it repeats what I recorded.

Slowly, her pupils shrink back to their normal size. She loses the feral quality about her. She walks over and picks my message up off of the floor.

She stares at it for a minute. Then, she says "You're right. I'm not about to give up who I am to the Capitol. I'm better than that."


End file.
